I have recently discovered the works of Ñāṇavīra Thera who was a self proclaimed stream-winner. In reading his works i discovered that Ñāṇavīra Thera commited suicide due to an illness that he was suffering with for some years.

My understanding is that suicide is a breaking of the first precept not to kill, and his unwholesome kamma.

If one is a Stream-Winner then the lower realms are cut off from him/her, if one is a stream-winner and they kill themselves, how do they experience the unwholesome kamma? Or is suicide not a unwholesome act in certain circumstances i.e. if one is a stream-winner?

I am in now way trying to judge Ñāṇavīra Thera as I am developing an appreciation of him and his writtings, its just the suicide of self proclamied stream-winner confuses me somewhat.

The dogmatists have claimed to have found the truth, others say that it cannot be apprehended; the Sceptics continue the search. Sextus Empiricus

The suttas contain account of arahants who have committed suicide, so by inference, it's possible that suicide could be done without a defiled mind. You mention kamma in your post. If suicide, a volitional action, is done without a defiled mind (in other words, the action was done from a mindstate rooted in generosity, lovingkindess and/or wisdom) then it needn't be considered "bad kamma". However, such circumstances would of course be rare, hence why the first precept is 99.999% of the time the best course of action.

retrofuturist wrote:The suttas contain account of arahants who have committed suicide, so by inference, it's possible that suicide could be done without a defiled mind. You mention kamma in your post. If suicide, a volitional action, is done without a defiled mind (in other words, the action was done from a mindstate rooted in generosity, lovingkindess and/or wisdom) then it needn't be considered "bad kamma". However, such circumstances would of course be rare, hence why the first precept is 99.999% of the time the best course of action.

From what I recall from the Suttas (or it may have been the notes or the Commentaries) the Arahants who killed themselves ("took the knife") did so with a defiled mind, but then as they were bleeding, realized the error, meditated and attained enlightenment while they were bleeding to death, not before.